Jongno District Chief Approves Sewoon Zone 4 Redevelopment Ahead of Departure

Democratic Party Head-Elect: "Will Review for Abuse of Authority"
In Direct Conflict with National Heritage Administration Order

Jung Moon-Heon, the head of Jongno District (People Power Party), who has two weeks left in his term, has approved the implementation plan for the redevelopment project in Sewoon Zone 4. It is reported that he personally signed off on the approval while the responsible section chief was absent.

Sewoon Sangga and the redevelopment area visible beyond Jongmyo Shrine. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Tensions had already been anticipated. Earlier, Yoo Chan-Jong, the Jongno District head-elect (Democratic Party of Korea), warned, "If the approval is granted before I take office in July, I will hold the responsible civil servants accountable and conduct an audit." A member of the transition team stated, "We will review whether this approval constitutes an abuse of authority."

This approval directly defies the order issued in May by the National Heritage Administration, which required Seoul City and Jongno District to first assess the impact of the Sewoon Zone 4 redevelopment on the Jongmyo Shrine landscape. The National Heritage Administration may request the cancellation of the approval in the future.

The central issue is the building height. The height limit on the Jongno side has been relaxed from 55 meters to 98.7 meters, and on the Cheonggyecheon side from 71.9 meters to 141.9 meters. The National Heritage Administration maintains that tall buildings will still damage the Jongmyo Shrine landscape.

Seoul City argues that "the site is 180 meters from the Jongmyo Shrine boundary and therefore does not fall within the 100-meter preservation zone," and is proceeding with the project without an impact assessment. The only step remaining before construction can begin is the review of buried cultural heritage by the National Heritage Committee.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.